Mercosur

• Sunday, November 27th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Pinochet's aides long silent loyalty cracks

  Chilean former dictator Augusto Pinochet ordered current ruling coalition presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet and her mother, Angela Jeria, arrested in January 1975, admitted former secret service chief Manuel Contreras.

• Sunday, November 27th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Aerolineas Argentinas grounded by labour conflict

  Spanish owned Aerolineas Argentinas is planning to fire 168 staff including pilots and mechanics that since last Thursday are on strike demanding higher wages according to information released Sunday by company headquarters in Buenos Aires.

• Saturday, November 26th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  “Mad cow” case confirmed in Luxembourg

  A new case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, BSE, or “mad cow” has been reported in Luxembourg, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

• Saturday, November 26th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Venezuela/Colombia agree on tight energy network

  Venezuela and Colombia agreed Thursday to build a gas pipeline linking the western shore of Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo and the Colombian town of Ballena.

• Saturday, November 26th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Latinamerica has 213 million poor, 40% of population

  Despite some progress over the past two years, poverty in Latinamerica and the Caribbean, --steady since 1990--, still is extensive to 213 million people, equivalent to 40,6% of the region's population according to a United Nations report released Friday in Chile.

• Saturday, November 26th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  British parliamentarians visit Argentina

  A group of six British parliamentarians are currently visiting Argentina under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

• Friday, November 25th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Venezuelan farmers concerned with Mercosur

  Cattle-ranchers and farmers in Venezuela claim they are being left in the dark as President Hugo Chávez accelerates his drive to make the country a full member of Mercosur, next December.

• Friday, November 25th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil closer to oil self sufficiency

  Brazil moved closer to oil self-sufficiency this week when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva christened Brazil's largest offshore rig at a shipyard in Rio de Janeiro.

• Friday, November 25th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile/India partial trade agreement

  In just five rounds and record time Chile and India concluded negotiations for a Partial Trade Agreement which contemplates reciprocal access of several hundred products with considerable tariff reductions and leaves for the future other controversial sectors such as investments and services.

• Friday, November 25th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Pope calls rich nations to overcome “narrow self interest”

  Pope Benedict XVI called Thursday for a sense of responsibility and solidarity with the world's poor to prevail at world trade talks in Hong Kong next month, saying the interests of the wealthy should be put aside.